It turns out that it is a good thing that 'Don Haroldson' looked like a beggar who had slipped over in a trash fire and cut himself badly, because when he enters the aura and the manifold magics he surrounds himself with wither away the difference is not immediately obvious.
He stoops more, his hands shake a little, his eyes squint, and - could anyone perceive it within the field - his aura warps.
Carefully laying down his scarf to form a place to kneel he pulls out a set of cunningly shaped wires and starts working.
Kazador informs Don of the moving block trap that Kazador spotted previously and Don notes that the cage was likely set open until the moving block trap was triggered, shoving a person into the adamantine cage which then slammed shut.
From outside, it isn't hard to access the lock. It seems the "unpickable" description refers to someone inside the cage being unable to reach the openings of the lock whatsoever, lacking magic as they would be. Don works at the lock and gets it open. The nobleman inside, who looks like Baron Cust, exclaims "Thank you! You've rescued me!" He stands up to walk out of the cage.
As he walks outside the antimagic field, the nobleman flexes his forearm, springing a scroll into his hand.
Túrion casually retrieves a Rod from his Belt, then turns to speak to the former Prisoner: "Mister Aldern, I suggest you hand me that scroll and refrain from casting anything. We have additional safeguards in place that may not only dismiss or redirect spell energy, but cause a violent feedback to whomever attempts to caste. For your own safety, you'd best hand over all your spell completion items until we find out exactly what went wrong during your previous attempt."
The noble does not look like he is going to comply!
When Cust does not stop, nor surrender the scroll he retrieved, several firey rays spring forth from Túrions fingers, grasping for the paper: "I see that was unclear. Despite the wording, I was not asking."
Turion's fire blasts the scroll to bits! The nobleman looks around in desperation for a different ploy...
Kazador sighed at the foolishness of resisting. He knew that killing a powerful nobleman would end poorly for everyone involved, including the noble. He did his best to use his hammer to incapacitate the man with non-lethal force. Which was harder that it might seem, given that his weapon was very much designed to cause loss of life and limb.
Kazador's first strike smacks the noble hard and the second strike knocks the flat-footed noble out properly.
Hearing the scuffle start and abruptly end from down below, Melia calls down "Did you get him? It sounds like you got him. Bring him up here and I can patch everyone up. Also I imagine Lord Turick would like a word with the good Baron."
Túrion approaches cautiously, then takes the scroll from Kaz, briefly checking it before responding to Mel: "Aye, we got him alright. Moment the door was unlocked he had the nerve to walk out and try some trick with a scroll. Kaz was having none of that."
Looking at his own scrawny arms and the now even-older-looking form of Donald, he turns to Kaz:"If we're to carry him up that ladder, I'm afraid that task will fall to you. Good job on knocking him out, too. Guess that's a drink on me once we get to a place with proper drinks."
Thanks to Kazador's strength, you finally get the man up the ladder. There in the basement, you find yourselves looking at a nobleman who does not match Baron Cust's description.
Thanks to Kazador's strength, you finally get the man up the ladder. There in the basement, you find yourselves looking at a nobleman who does not match Baron Cust's description.
Not willing to take any further risks, Túrion casts a spell to see magical auras, then proceeds to retrieve anything magical the unconscious figure has on him, attempting to identify whatever he finds BEFORE taking it off the Baron: "He attempted to cast this scroll the moment he was free of the dead magic zone. Give me a moment to look him over for any other tricks he might have up his sleeve - "
"Are we sure this is him? It sure doesn't look like the descriptions I've heard."
Melia studies the unconscious man carefully.
She checks his wounds. "He's taken no permanent harm from the scuffle. I'll be able to get him up on his feet, no problem. But let's relieve him of any weapons or magical gear before I wake him from his nap. For that matter, let's check for mundane tricks, too. I wouldn't put a poison tooth past him."
"Well done, Khaz," she adds, favoring the stout warrior with a dazzling smile. "It takes a true master to wield a blunt weapon like that hammer with such finesse."
Turion detects the hat of disguise, the scroll of teleport (which he almost incinerated), four scrolls of dimension door, a consumed scroll of teleport, a wand of expeditious retreat, a concealed wand of glibness (20 charges), and a scroll of suggestion.
Melia peers carefully and can tell that this is indeed Baron Cust, though well-disguised.
With considerably more effort than it took to go down the Don - or at least the soot, blood and silver covered husk of the Don - reappears at the top of the ladder.
"Excellent work, gentlemen." he congratualtes in his educated tones, then with a somewhat less educated grunt leans against the wall. "Were I less exhausted I would suggest we take something for easy scrying, and plant upon him something to help with tracking. My intuition says the man has ways and means to escape even from the King's custody."
Túrion retrieves the magic items from the man, then turns to Turick:"I agree with my companion. Facing charges of treason, we will attempt anything to escape, and he may have outside agents unknown to us, or even among criminal syndicates fearful he might reveal too much under torture."
He points at the unconscious mans legs:"It is a rather simply thing to clip his tendons. He would be unable to walk by himself, which could at least make any attempts to flee more complicated. Your call."
Túrion had enough theoretical knowledge about anatomy and medicine, but neither experience nor a gift for healing - so he turns to Mel "I know you'd resent crippling a man, but if I were to do it, I suspect it would amount to butchery, not a medical procedure..."
Once the hat is removed and Baron Cust is revealed, the viscount waves his guards toward the prisoner. "We'll take him from here. Excellent work. Now where is this physical evidence you mentioned? His attempted flight does not look good for him but is not sufficient alone."
"No need to clip his tendons, I think. The Viscount's men can no doubt handle one man now that his magic tricks have been removed."
"As for the rest of the evidence -- it's here. There's a secret door, here in the basement." She points at it. "There was a nasty disintegration trap on it when we first investigated. We disabled it, but we should check again just in case it has some kind of reset. The rest of the Lake family's art collection is in there, stored in crates. Speaking of which, when this is all over could I have some of the wood from those crates? It's wych elm, and wonderfully seasoned after years down here in a nice dry room. I could make some really nice bows out of it."
"As for Cust -- let me get him back on his feet. He can walk out of here under his own power. No sense making extra work for the guards."
Melia rests her fingers gently on Cust's temples, and a wave of pale green energy spreads over him.
"Anyone else need healing?" she asks.
"Very well. Yes, you should probably investigate those paintings we mentioned. We do have a bit more investigative work to do."
Túrion turns to the Secretary:"We have one more location to check, at least. Do lead the way."
Kazador did his best to hide his pleasure at receiving praise from his companions, with his modesty only partially covering it up. ”Good eyes on the wood.” He said, changing the topic. ”Take the wood and let’s finish our sweep of the area, aye?” The promise of precious gems spoke to him, and was a great motivator to continue an already long day.
Turick nods to Melia "Yes you should be well compensated. In addtion to the wood, you may take the magical items from Baron Cust as I do not see how they will prove valuable as evidence." Not knowing about the gems, he doesn't say anything about them.
Cust is returned to consciousness outside of sight of his secretary. He immediately throws a massive fit, exclaiming "This is treason to attack a member of the council without evidence! Who authorized this?" But Viscount Turick stands firm in his resolve, knowing that he is backed by his childhood friend the king and that the evidence has been found and, at this point, catalogued by scribes and investigators. "Your treason will see you hang, Baron. You added fuel to the Lakefire."
The secretary explains to you that the hidden cache of gems was a back-up Cust had concealed some quarter mile away. The secretary offers to show you the location as long as you hand him over to standard authorities with recommendations of leniency afterward. He looks like he might be just as happy being handed over to the standard authorities right now and getting away from Turion.
The old Don stands straighter at Turion's suggestion, and looks stricken, but slumps against the wall when the surgery is off the table.
As the arrest is made he shakes his head slowly. "Well. I did not see this coming when I woke up this morning." he mutters quietly.
"My thanks," Melia says. She salvages some wych elm from some of the empty crates.
"How about you just tell us where to go for the jewels, and we'll hand you to Turick's men right now?" Melia suggests to the secretary. "With a recommendation for leniency as long as you cooperate with their inquiries, of course."
The secretary grumbles and nods "Alright. Make the recommendation and then I'll tell you where the drop is."
He seems more worried about ensuring you hold up your end, not trying to angle to somehow worm his way out of his end.
Melia goes over to Turick, being careful to do so where Cust can't hear, and gets his attention. "That fellow over there is Cust's secretary," she says. "We caught him fleeing the scene, and he was instrumental in locating Cust. He's deep in Cust's confidence, and has indicated he's willing to testify against Cust in exchange for leniency. Obviously that's up to you and the law, but I did say I would recommend it before turning him over to your men."
"I should also like to add that he cooperated freely, without magical compulsion. There may admittedly have been other threats involved, but he did not hesitate to do the right thing when given the option. I believe his inside knowledge could prove valuable for any case brought against the Baron, and escaping the noose should motivate him easily enough.", Túrion adds to Melias words.
Hal gives a very quiet smile, and reflects 'Reminds me of them giving me leniency in exchange for cooperation. Worked for me. Hopefully it works for him.'
Turick nods in agreement to your words and the secretary speaks aside to you "The drop is hidden in a sack buried underground in Vintner's Park on the Palatine. Just east of the large elm."
"Thank you," Melia smiles at him.
"Very well. We will deliver a written recommendation detailing your help until this point. We do have a mutual understanding that this drop was never mentioned and in fact does not exist at all, correct?", Túrion raises an eyebrow. He did not intent on sticking around until the investigation into the treacherous council members was done, but neither did he want to have any agents of the crown looking into their identities, doings, or motivations.
The man nods nervously. "Oh yes, I understand."
You leave the scene and head to the drop at Vintner's Park.
You get pointed to the small, lovely park on the elegant Palatine Hill. The park is situated between to imposing government buildings with a small white gazebo, a fountain, stone walking paths, benches, and well-manicured trees. The largest tree is an old elm in the center.
A young clerk sits alone on one of the benches, the only occupant of the small park right now, sits staring at the trees. It would be better if he were convinced to leave...
You sneak behind the elm and dig just east of it, unobserved by the passers by. It seems this part of the city has at least some foot traffic at nearly all hours. Working quietly when there are no passersby nearby, you soon find the sack.
You check inside the sack and determine that the gems should return you a total of 14,000 gp.
"So, uh," Melia says as they walk through the brightly lit early morning streets, "Anybody got a shovel?"
"I don't. Brolins any-tool would be handy, now.", Túrion takes a look around: "Do we even know which way Vintners Park ist? I'd really like to fetch Nelly. It's nice of Fyrtor to watch over her, but she'll go crazy in the city...she'll at least need some time in the park - and she can dig decently well with her paws, too..."
The 'Don' nods. "As it happens, I have one. I confess to being more interested in a bath than anything else at the moment... A long, hot, long bath..." he sighs "But I can see the need for speed."
Melia snags a passerby and asks for directions to Vintner's Park. The passerby -- a somewhat portly gentleman wearing a green velvet jerkin with gold brocade, with a long white beard flowing down over it, points the group to a small, lovely park on the elegant Palatine Hill. It sits between two imposing government buildings with a small white gazebo, a fountain, stone walking paths, benches, and well-manicured trees. The largest tree is an old elm in the center.
Melia observes a young man with a gloomy expression, sitting alone on a bench. Although his clothes are clearly of good make, his collar is undone, and his jacket lies tossed across the bench with a bouquet of slightly wilted flowers lying on top of it. He sits back against the bench, legs out with his heels flat on the ground.
Melia waves the others back.
"Hi," Melia says, walking up. She turns her head slightly. "Are you alright?"
He lifts his head to stare at her a long moment. "No," he says, finally, in a voice like death warmed over.
"Oh. Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Today I asked my sweetheart to marry me," he says in a flat monotone. "And today she told me she found someone else. I don't think there's anything you can do about that."
Melia shakes her head. "No. I don't suppose there is."
The man's stomach emits an audible gurgle.
"How long have you been sitting out here?" Melia asks.
"All day."
That's probably why the park is so empty, she thinks. Nobody wanted to get near Mr. Raincloud here. Aloud, she says "Listen. I know it hurts right now ..."
"You're going to tell me there are other women out there," he says, bitterly.
"No, actually. Though that's true also. What I was going to say is that being hungry and tired makes everything worse. It hurts now, and it'll probably hurt for a while yet to come. But you're not making it any easier by starving yourself. Go get yourself a solid meal, and sleep, if you can. It'll probably still hurt in the morning. But a little less."
He sits and stares blankly for a while before sighing. "I suppose you're right," he says.
He collects his things, abandoning the wilted bouquet, and walks slowly away. After a few paces he pauses and turns back. "Thank you," he says. "No one else even asked."
"You're welcome," she assures him.
And with that he walks slowly out of the park and vanishes around the hedge at the corner.
Poor guy, she thinks.
Once he's well out of earshot, Melia gestures the others back over and borrows the Don's shovel. It takes only a couple minutes of digging to locate a bag of damp burlap and retrieve it. She checks within -- definitely gems. "Let's get out of here," she says. "We can appraise them at our leisure elsewhere. I'm starving, and wouldn't mind a bath and a long sleep afterwards."
You reconvene at Mel's rented house after Turion takes Nelly, in dog form, on a short walk. The dirty burlap bag could still be investigated while you bathe, rest, eat, and plan your next moves.
Túrion joins the others in the park, letting Nelly run free for a bit and keeping watch in the areas where someone could theoretically see Mel. But she's very cautious, so his vigilance was not even needed.
He returns home keeping a bit of distance, once more - keeping each other in sight, but not moving in a group. Just in case someone out there was keeping tabs on them.
When he returns, he takes note of the burlap bag Mel produces from somewhere obscure: "That is the bag? Let me take a look at the content - lets see if what he said was worth the trouble."
Setting aside some of the larger and clearer stones, he gives a whistle:"By far not the most valuable stones, here, but quite valuable for their size. I think the intent was not to have easily moveable assets that are still small enough to liquidate them on an open market, or pay for small acquisitions or services with them, instead of only being able to sell to experts or jewelers. All in all, I'd estimate their value between 12.500 and 15.000 gold. 14.000 is probably realistic to aim for if we're not in a hurry to get rid of them."
Back at the townhouse, Melia pokes around until she finds a wooden tub stored under the stairs.
"Unless one of you has a magical option, we'll have to heat the water on the stove," she informs them. "The place has running water -- a luxury I've never had before! -- but it's not heated."
Hal brightens, then sags "Any o'er day I'd be able ta help. But t'day I'm tapped. Gun'a have ta hope master Túrion here still 'as a trick up 'is sleeve. And Gi'en its your tub, makes sense you go first."
He looks thoughtful. "I 'ave got a trick'll warm up a flask ta blood temperature. Might be faster'n boilin' cold water."
"I'm afraid nothing in my portfolio that would help with a wooden tub. Or not leave stains, for that matter...", Túrion smiles.
"I can help with the slight heating, though."
He thinks a bit more, then speaks up: "Or we go find a public bath-house. Running water and a tub is great - but there's something to be said for relaxing together, instead of waiting your turn."
"Much though I might like to try a public bath house," Melia says, "It would be awkward explaining why I have to continue wearing my hat as I bathe." She taps the enchanted hat which keeps Mel's elven features hidden behind the cheerful facade of Melia.
"Kazador, would you be so good as to go buy us some dinner while the rest of us are working on the bath? I don't much care what it is, I'm famished. Surely there must be some street vendors still open. Or maybe one of the taverns can pack up some food to go."
It takes some time and effort to heat the water, and bathing in a wooden tub in the kitchen is not luxurious by any means. "Hal first, and fresh water after him," Mel specifies. "That tribal goop he used is probably poisonous." Before long, everyone has an opportunity to cleanse themselves.
Gathered around the dining table after bathing, over whatever food Kazador procured, Melia sighs, rubbing her temples. "So that's the third taken care of," she says. "Turick seems to be an honorable fellow, though of course he has his own interests. Harcourt was rotten, but his plans have been brought to nought. And Cust turned out to be a traitor to Iustia. That leaves Duke Beaumont."
She takes out her journal and ruffles through it, checking notes. "So: Duke Beaumont. He's the most powerful member of the cabinet, and the strongest advocate for war. He apparently has uncannily good knowledge of events in the Concordat. He has been pushing for restrictions on non-humans for years -- though we don't know whether that's out of personal animus or political expediency. He's apparently been commissioning nationalist plays from a couple of different playwrights, but doing so secretly for some reason. Oh, and there's apparently to be a large gathering at his house later this week, according to the plate seller in the marketplace."
"So, where do we want to begin our investigations? Go see a play? Attend the event at the Beaumont estate, either as incognito servants or by wrangling an invite somehow? Archival research? Magical divinations to figure out his sources of information in the Concordat? Just go out and listen for rumors about him? We have many options at our disposal."